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Monday, January 12, 2015

When Gentle Discipline Doesn't Come Naturally

Gentle Discipline is not my gut reaction as a mother...It's definitely my desire... but it doesn't come naturally. It takes very intentional thought and action to do things like snuggle a small child who has lost control of her emotions or sooth the conscience of an 8 year old who has made a genuine mistake.
In fact there are many times when I have had to rewind the situations and start over again. I have to fight against motherly pride... you know that inner voice that says "Shut up because I said so and you're driving me nuts and my comfort is WAY more important than yours!!" and become humble. It is humility that allows me to soften my voice, puts kindness in my eyes and allows me to be the mama I want to be.

I am so glad that my children are open to second chances, since calm and collected (maybe sanity is the word I'm looking for) are not my native tongue. They readily accept my apologies and hugs and snuggles. We breath deeply together and sooth one another.

On those occasions when I do get it right the first time (and thankfully they are becoming more and more frequent), I make sure to take note of it. Mentally high fiving myself or writing it down as a gift in my gratitude journal.

We are not perfect Mamas, we are hard workers, we push past our burdens to love, we fail but our success is not measured in failure. Our success is measured in how many times we get up, splash a little water on our faces, gulp back another cuppa and share our hearts with our kiddos.

Over the next little while, from time to time,
I will be sharing the ways I am improving my parenting . I welcome your comments, tips and advice, We are a village (and there are no idiots in my village).